But India’s first 3D dance centric movie had reported a higher occupancy on Friday. How did Akshay Kumar’s heist turn the tables then? Read on to find out!

While our critics clearly recommended Special 26 over Any Body Can Dance, it initially looked like the curiosity surrounding India’s first 3D dance centric movie ABCD was a better crowd puller than Akshay Kumar’s Special 26.

Reports suggest that Special 26 opened with 30-35 per cent occupancy in the theatres while ABCD recorded an average of 60 per cent. Should Prabhudeva thank the reigning dance reality television shows for this? Perhaps.

But as the critics reviews favouring Special 26 poured in, the game changed. By evening, Neeraj Pandey’s directorial was earning more than ABCD. In the end, the heist managed to surpass the dance-centric movie’s collection. Special 26 collected around Rs 5.75 crores (net) from the 1575 screens in which it released while ABCD followed close at Rs 5 crores (net) through 1000 screens it was released in.

Hmmm, pretty close, we say. But looks like a clear winner is emerging. Looking at these statistics, we can assume that Special 26 will go on to earn much more than ABCD. Do you agree with us, readers?

Mr Perfectionist returns to the big screen in the lead role after three long years. Will this comeback be made special by housefull boards across the country? Here’s what the trade buzz says…

If our feathered friends and Talaash-loyalists are to be believed, the movie is gearing up for a bumper opening at the box office with “people thronging to the multiplexes to book the tickets in advance”. And why not! After all Aamir Khan did pull out all stops as far as marketing of Talaash is concerned. Remember the tie-up with Windows 8, those promotional episodes on C.I.D. and the buzz about Khan being interrogated by the cast of Star Plus’ Diya Aur Baati Hum?

But has it generated the desired buzz? “Talaash may not have generated extraordinary heat. But that may work in the favour of the film as it is a suspense drama. The intrigue value of the film has grown over the days because of the not-in-your-face promotional strategies which would do the suspense film good,” trade analyst Komal Nahta says. A peek into the booking window revealed that the tickets for the evening shows of certain multiplexes in Navi Mumbai are indeed sold out.

But what kind of buzz is the Aamir Khan-Rani Mukerji-Kareena Kapoor starrer creating in the trade arena? “The buzz is good and the weekend should earn approximately Rs 40 crores,” says trade analyst Amod Mehra.

And maybe that’s the reason why birdies chirp that the makers of Talaash were under tremendous pressure to open the ticket windows for the advance bookings on Sunday. And while bookings usually open on Monday for single screens and on Wednesday for multiplexes, advance bookings Talaash opened in all theatres (except the ones in Chennai) on Monday, four days prior to the movie’s release.

So has opening the advance booking sooner resulted in an increase in sale of tickets? Not really. The morning and afternoon shows show only 30-40 ‘booked’ seats in almost all theatres across Mumbai till now. And hardly any theatres are housefull. “Normally bookings open on Wednesday. And nowadays there are so many shows that to register a housefull in advance is a rarity,” Mehra said while explaining the reason behind those empty seats.

So looks like we’ll have to wait and watch if the promotional strategies employed for Talaash have indeed benefited the movie or not, right? Till then, you tell us readers: Do you think Talaash will cross the Rs 100 crore mark at the box office?

]]>ArticleSalman Khan doing well after surgery, will be back to work in two weekshttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip-buzz/salman-khan-doing-well-after-surgery-will-be-back-to-work-in-two-weeks/
Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:17:22 +0000BollywoodLifehttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=33393

Bodyguard is doing phenomenally well at the BO, but its lead star Salman Khan is not here to see it. He was operated on by surgeons in Los Angeles on August 31 – the surgery took five hours – and is now in recovery. The operation was a complete success. Doctors have said he needs complete rest for at least two weeks, after which he can get back to work. Salman was suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, which caused intense pain in his face and head, a condition that started in 2007 when he was shooting for Partner. Since then, the pain has flashed in and out of his life. With the surgery done, Sallu bhai should be back to his ebullient self very soon. We wish him all the best…